‘You will be the path we walk. You will be the last scale on a wing, the piece of the puzzle that makes everything complete.’
Deep beneath the Black Palace in Lieus, Suriin pays the price for trusting Natke. Cut off from her magic and unable to rescue herself, she waits on aid from Darin and the Howlers. The cost of her rescue? The future she’d always dreamed of.
Thanks to Darin and Chase, the Howlers’ access to magic is no longer restricted, but as they prepare to hunt down the xotryl and its new companion, they receive disturbing news from Dal. Natke is hunting. She will stop at nothing to get home to Tebein.
Far away, on Tebein, Elissa’s only hope to rescue her people is to travel to the moon of Mythos and find a way to re-open the Aulirean Gate on Lieus.
I’ve been waiting forever to read Gates of Sorrow, and I’m so excited it’s finally here that I’m interrupting marinading the chicken for today’s dinner just so I can come and yell about these incredibly good dogs, and dare I say good cats, wait, dragons. My bad. They’re dragons!
I love fantasy with animal companions, but there’s so much more to be found in these books. Besides the good boys, this series contains many of my favourite things like star gates (I’m a sucker for portals to anywhere), dragons, found family (one of my favourite tropes), magic, but the most important aspect are the telepathic hounds.
In fact, if you like the way Robin Hobb portrays animal companions, I’m confident you will love Hannaford’s world. Not only are the moonhounds and dragons incredibly well written, but I simply adore the way the companions and their bonded humans communicate with each other, using pictures instead of spoken words.
Since this is the second book, I’m not going to say much about the plot or the characters. Elissa, the oldest of the three, is still my favourite, but I like Suriin and Darin’s growth, and I’m looking forward to their arcs in the third book.
This isn’t a dark series, that’s not to say bad things don’t happen, but overall, the tone remains hopeful, and it reminds me of the adventure stories I used to devour as a child.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for these characters, and I really hope Hannaford has a happy ending in mind for them.
Find Gates of Sorrow on Amazon and Goodreads
Guest Reviewer
Olivia is a Swiss lesbian who likes fiction in all forms. She’s currently trying to figure out her life, a thing she thinks she should have done a long time ago. In the meantime, she writes mostly science fiction and fantasy while traveling in order to pet as many dogs as possible.
Visit her website.
